Cushy desk jobs double risk of blood clots

CUSHY desk jobs could be hazardous to health, a recent study suggests.

Too much time spent sitting at work may double the risk of potentially dangerous blood clots in the legs or lungs, say researchers.

Being desk-bound might even pose a bigger threat of blood clots than long haul flights, it is claimed.

The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, involved 97 patients under the age of 65 attending a hospital outpatient clinic in New Zealand.

All had previously been admitted to hospital with a deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in the legs or thighs) or pulmonary embolism (clot in the lungs).

The patients were interviewed about their lifestyle and work pattern along with a comparison group of 106 others who had not been treated in hospital for clots.

Prolonged sitting at work was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of developing DVT or PE.

People who spend large amounts of time in front of a computer should do frequent leg and foot exercises, and take regular breaks away from their desks, the researchers said.

“It is similar to the situation with the risk of blood clots with long distance air travel,” said study leader, Professor Richard Beasley, from Wellington Hospital in New Zealand. “It was not until there was research into its role that the real extent of the problem was appreciated.”

The development of blood clots after prolonged immobility caused by travel, work or other situations is known as the SIT (seated immobility thromboembolism) syndrome.

SIT was first recognised during the World War II blitz on London. A number of people who spent long periods of time sitting in air raid shelters died of pulmonary embolism.